• Published 19th Sep 2012
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Homeworld: Equestria - hiigaran



Finding himself in an uncharted system, the Captain of a military vessel ends up on a strange planet

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3: The Eye

The occasional roars of laughter interrupted the background music of a local pub as Captain Soban told his fourth war story about the mopping up of a small Imperial Taiidan destroyer fleet to a pair of cobalt-blue-coated pegasi. As they conversed, Soban noted a striking similarity between the two, with the exception of their three-toned manes and tails. Each pony’s set of mane and tail colours reminded the Captain of electric blue pulsar beams and fire red plasma lances. Despite the resemblance to one another, Nova and Firelance insisted they were not related.

“… No no, that’s not the end of it either,” Soban continued between swigs of hard cider. “After the mass confusion and the two destroyers accidentally tearing each other new air vents, our carrier launched ten probes behind them on collision courses with their engines, each painted with the word ‘SUPPOSITORY’!”

Beer erupted from Firelance’s nostrils while Nova struggled to contain himself, slamming his hoof on the table repeatedly.

Soban paused while the laughter subsided. “Anyway, from that day forward we coined the term ‘probe golfing’. We would do it from hundreds of kilometres away just to mess with the enemy.”

“Just when I thought you couldn’t top the story with the toilet infiltration!” Nova wiped a tear out of his eye. “I’d love to listen to those audio logs, ohoho! Keep the stories coming, mate. We got nothing remotely interesting as night guards.”

“Are you two those guards who wear the gold armour and funny brush things on their heads?”

“Hah, no way,” Nova replied. “According to a pal of mine who works as one of Luna’s grunts, their work is twice as boring, and their pay isn’t even impressive. Nope, ‘Lance and I can be found near banks, malls, and pretty much any place where a heap of money is held.”

“Yep, it’s how we met,” Firelance added, as he finished cleaning himself up. “Unlike the royal guards, we don’t have to be a bunch of disciplined, uptight statues. The night shifts can be long and painfully boring, so us guards are all well acquainted with one another. I see no reason why we can’t talk amongst ourselves and work at the same time.”

“How exactly do you juggle your job with being aboard my ship anyway?”

“Pfft, we just told the boss we were going on holiday,” Firelance went on, spilling some beer as he waved his tankard around callously. “That ship of yours is like our second home now. Hay, if Nova had no wife or kids, I’d put fifty bits down on him being permanently glued to your cannon.”

“You can pay for the next round with those bits, pal, because I’d certainly not be glued to it.” Shooting a glare at Firelance, Nova then turned to the Captain. “He’s just jealous because he only has a goldfish to talk to at home.”

“You better not be talkin’ ‘bout my Boris! ‘Sides, he’s the only family I need. Beats the hassle of relationships and them darn foals. What about you, Cap’? Got a family?”

“Ahh, well I’m not with anyone if that’s what you’re asking. My Kiith is the closest I have to family. I think the best translation would be … Clan? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Ooh, sounds so tribal!” Firelance remarked, downing the last of his lager. “Oh, I know! Let’s make our own Kiith! Just the three of us in it. And Boris.”

Nova rolled his eyes and peered over the Captain’s head as he read the nearby clock. “Ahh dangit, I should probably go. The missus doesn’t like me coming home too late. I’ll see you folks tomorrow!”

“Poor fella probably gets a rolling pin to the head from the ol’ ball and chain if he’s late,” Firelance chortled once Nova was out of earshot. “The night’s still young though. Barkeep! Another four over here!”


Captain Soban stumbled through the streets of Canterlot as he made his way towards his ship. It was likely past midnight when he finally arrived at the frigate and attempted to gain access multiple times without success.

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” an irritated Twilight called out behind Soban.

“Pardon me ma’am, but … I seem to have lost the keys to my spaceship!” Soban snickered. Twilight was not amused. “Oh wait, never mind. I figured it out.”

“Was this really the best time to go partying?” Twilight rolled her eyes, following Soban inside.

“Oh come on Twi, it was just a drink or twelve. Not like there’s much to do until you’ve done your reading stuff anyway.”

“That’s exactly why I’ve been trying to find you for the last”—Twilight pulled out a pocket watch—“four hours! You remember the theories I had? There’s a high probability one in particular is correct. I think there is a strong connection between the cores and—are you even listening to me?”

“Wha—?”

“Ugh! I’ll come back when you sober up!” Twilight exclaimed, frustrated. “Ugh!”

Six hours later, Soban emerged from his quarters, barely feeling the events of the previous night. Sure enough, the unicorn arrived like clockwork.

“Morning!” Twilight chirped, immediately dragging the Captain back to his quarters. “Sit. I went through every book, scroll, and scrap parchment that might have been remotely related to your core problem, and I believe I have found the answer. Funnily enough, the idea never hit me until I examined several images of Sajuuk for the better part of an hour …”

Twilight’s horn glowed, as a diagram appeared in mid-air. “This is a side view of Sajuuk. Look at the core section, and describe what you see.”

“I—Uhh, I see three circular pits. They … house the cores.” Soban replied, scratching his head. “Haven’t I explained this to you already?”

“Yes you have. Moving on.” Twilight materialised a second diagram. “This is Sajuuk from the other side. Look at the core section again and compare it to the other side. Do you notice a difference?”

“No?”

Twilight’s diagrams vanished. “To your understanding, these three—rather, four cores, were meant to be simultaneously utilised by Sajuuk, correct?”

“I suppose so. Before Sajuuk, our core was reverse engineered and retrofitted to power our old mothership, much like the other cores with their previous owners.”

“Great! We’re getting somewhere!” The two diagrams of Sajuuk appeared again, as Twilight zoomed in on Sajuuk’s aft sections. “Now look veeeeerrry closely at the core sections again and put the pieces of the puzzle together. Four cores. Sajuuk. But three circular pits within the core section, on both sides.”

“I really hope you aren’t going where I think you’re going with this Twilight.”

“So you understand now? There aren’t four hyperspace cores in existence after all. There aren’t even three. There are six!” Twilight finished with a triumphant stomp of her hoof on the metal floor.

Soban remained silent for a moment. “This raises far more questions than it answers. Where could the other two cores be? Why have we never known of their existence? And most importantly, if three awaken Sajuuk, what do another three do?”

“My guess is redundancy and supplementation. You said three cores ‘awaken’ Sajuuk, so perhaps that implies a minimum of three cores must be present for the ship to function. However, the next part of my theory identifies their true purpose. Are you aware a large pink gem shaped like a butterfly resides at the heart of the hyperspace core you recovered?”

Soban raised an eyebrow. “Uhh, no. Is that supposed to be releva—”

“Don’t you get it? This core is the Element of Kindness! Six cores. Six Elements. Six pits on Sajuuk. These are not hyperspace cores, not as their intended primary function. These are the Elements of Harmony!”

Soban shook his head. “That … That seems way too improbable Tw—”

“But it makes sense! Had I not seen the gem, I wouldn’t have even considered making that connection, but I see no other explanation for why it would even be in this device. We are dealing with the Elements of Harmony here and if what I’ve seen about Sajuuk’s current power is accurate, imagine what the Elements of Harmony could do as its cores! Surely your people have inspected the components of your cores, no?”

“Only our first core. I don’t think we’ve had a need to inspect the others yet. Now that I think about it, I remember something about a gemstone within the core, but it wasn’t a pink butterfly. It was a sapphire, and more or less round, looking a bit like a balloo— … No! No way!”

“I knew it! I was right!” Twilight celebrated, either oblivious or apathetic to the silliness of her little victory dance. “They are the Elements!”

“But—Okay, back up. Let’s assume they are. Explain to me what it is you have been using as the so-called Elements, then. What was it you and your friends used to stop several major threats to Equestria?”

“What you have to understand is that while the Elements of Harmony may be considered physical objects, whether they take the form of jewellery or a gigantic core, the true elements are already in each of us. These items, devices or whatever you want to call them, serve only to amplify what already exists here”—Twilight tapped her chest—“which makes sense, considering you must be a prime example of the Element you represent, otherwise all Elements fail. What I am unsure of is how the traits for any Element can be quantified in the first place.”

Soban shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I certainly don’t have any other ideas that could put a hole in your theories.”

“What now, then?”

“Now?” Soban put his hands on his knees and stood up. “Now I’m going to have some breakfast.”

“Oh, perfect! You can explain to me why you put the Princess in harm’s way while you’re at it.”


“… So if you think about it, there was never any danger,” the Captain conversed, savouring the taste and smell of his tea. “Not for her, anyway. Worst case scenario, she abandons my ship. I’m prepared to hold out ‘till my dying breath, but I don’t expect non-combatants to do the same. Part of my job is to give others adequate time to prepare or escape, should such situations arise.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Soban, as she slowly chewed and swallowed another piece of toast. “I’m still not entirely convinced. What kind of protection does this ship have?”

“Well, our frigates have three layers. The outermost layer is designed to vaporise instantly at the site of an impact, causing deflections that dampen attacks. As you can see from the ship’s lack of paint, I burned that layer off, entering the atmosphere. The second layer is a thin, power-absorbing coat. Atmospheric entry and the resulting crash pretty much destroyed most of that as well. Finally, a crystal-polymer composite, interwoven with advanced ceramics, serves as the final layer. It’s also the primary armour, maintaining a perfect seal to protect us from the vacuum of space. That layer is in a good structural condition.”

“That’s it?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “No force fields, or—or deflector shields? Just a chunk of metal between you and what would be certain death in space? Where is all that powerful space technology of yours?”

Soban smiled at Twilight’s naive view on technology. “You’ve been reading too many sci-fi books, Twilight. We may be powerful, but we’re not invincible. Far from it. The closest thing we have to a ‘shield’ is a defence field, but because they don’t protect against all forms of attacks, they are highly impractical. As such, we rely on thicker armour instead.”

Twilight smirked. “Hmm. It seems like such a disadvantage, doesn’t it? Follow me to the bridge. You’ll definitely want to see this.”

After the pair entered the bridge, Twilight gestured the Captain to watch outside, as her horn glowed brightly. A moment later, a purple bubble encapsulated Manaan.

Soban laughed. “Twilight, am I seeing this right? Did you just create a shield for my ship?”

Twilight’s horn finished glowing, and the bubble faded. “Sort of. I don’t know if it’s strong enough to absorb damage in a fight though. The larger I make it, the weaker it gets. Plus I need to focus on it at regular intervals, otherwise the shield disintegrates. You should see my brother though. One time he created a giant shield around Canterlot for an extended period, and he didn’t even have to focus on it more than a few times in a day. Oh! I should bring him aboard! You’d like him. He’s a Captain too!”

“Well, having a shield would definitely help if it can allow us to enter the atmosphere without damaging the ship. When can you get him here? A journey to space has been long overdue now, but with nothing more than one last layer of armour, it would be a one way trip. This shield could be the answer to my problem.”

Twilight cocked her head to one side. “Oh? What could you possibly hope to achieve? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to go out into space, but you’ve said it before; without a hyperdrive, you’re not going anywhere. What’s there for you nearby?”

“As you may recall, I arrived in this system via a network of hyperspace gates. While I cannot return through the gate without Sajuuk, I would like to try something else. One of the few things we know is that the gates communicate with each other, so if I can use the gate’s communications relay, I might be able to contact someone. If not, they also broadcast signals whenever they are damaged or tampered with, so the network can lock out the problematic gate while automatic repairs are initiated. I could exploit that, as my people monitor hyperspace gate activity and inspect such anomalies.”

“Sounds like a plan. Anything you need me to do?”

“Well if you’re volunteering, see if you can obtain four days worth of food and water. I’ll need your brother to be available, along with some of your best scientists. Doesn’t matter if they don’t know about technology or astronomy, as long as they are good at thinking and analysing.”

“I’ll get it all for you within three hours,” Twilight said, her horn once again glowing.

“Really? That seems a little—”

*POOF*

“… Quick.”


“… Cupcakes, apple pies, hay fries, apple juice, blueberry muffins … Couldn’t you find anything a little healthier?”

“Aww come on, they’re good! Here, try a muffin!” Twilight lifted the baked good and attempted to force it into the Captain’s mouth.

“Hey stop, okay, I’ll take your word for i—mmmph …”

“Wow, that’s not bad at all.”

Twilight smirked. “Told you.”

“Ahh, okay, I guess we are fine with rations then.” The Captain went back to inspecting his checklist, seizing an opportunity to sneak another muffin as Twilight searched for her passenger manifest. “So, I’ve plotted our course, system reports show green, and everypony seems to have settled in to their quarters. Speaking of which, how did you get so many white-coats on such short notice?”

“Are you crazy? For a chance to go into space? One of them abandoned an entire auditorium in the middle of a seminar on astrophysics! He was out before his papers fell to the ground!”

“You know Twilight, we didn’t have to leave so soon. While I am eager to get this over with, I’m not in a major rush.”

“From the moment I said ‘space’, everypony I talked to was. And … I might have been a little too eager myself,” she added, a slight blush following her drooping ears.

Soban shrugged. “Well if it’s all the same, I guess we can disengage the couplings and head on out. Zenith, may you?”

“Sure thing, Captain.”

Soban lifted a handset and spoke into an interphone. “This is Captain Soban to all personnel aboard. I trust you have all been informed about the upcoming few days, so get comfortable, as we will have a long journey ahead of us. In the meantime, prepare for departure. We will be leaving the atmosphere shortly.”

As Manaan moved away from the city and hovered over an unpopulated area, it pitched up until it was almost completely vertical. As soon as the frigate’s attitude stabilised, the main drives fired, and the vessel started to ascend at a gradual pace. The hour-long climb eventually came to an end, and the altitude readout indicated Manaan was back in its natural habitat.

“We’re in low orbit, Captain,” Zenith reported. “Shall I select our next heading?”

“Not yet. Let’s maintain orbit and face the planet for a while. I’m sure you’d like to see your world. Go ahead, take a look outside. I think we can also bring the others up to the bridge, a few at a ti—”

“Captain, we uhh, got some kind of problem with the flak cannon. Can you give us a hoof down here?” Nova interrupted over the radio.

Soban groaned. “Perfect timing. Alright, I’m on my way. Zenith, you’re in charge while I’m away.”

Turning towards the forward section of the ship, Soban navigated his way to the dorsal turret control compartment. Nova and Firelance were standing beside a smooth, metal column, when the Captain entered.

“I think the breech on the second barrel is jammed,” Firelance reported. “We’ve tried, but we can’t get it to slide open.”

The Captain approached the problematic component. “No signs of decompression contingencies being triggered,” he muttered, inspecting a nearby panel of lights. “Annunciator panel shows no warnings or cautions, either. Alright, let’s try it together. You two, pull the handle. I’ll push. Ready? One, two, THREE!”

“Dammit!” Soban panted. “What did you two do to this? Did you also tamper with the sealing mechanisms as—never mind, one more try. One, two, THR—AAAAH!”

The breech shot open. Confetti exploded. The head of a pink pony popped out from the opening, and Soban fell face first on to the floor, finding himself once again covered in streamers.

“SURPRISE!”

“What th—How did—What in Kharak are you doing in—HOW are you even alive?” the Captain yelled, mortified as he got back to his feet.

Soban regretted asking as soon as Pinkie’s mouth started moving faster than the tracking systems of a multi-gun corvette. “Oh that’s easy! I just wiggled in face first so the sides of my head made a seal, allowing me to breathe and then I just had to play the waiting game. I tell you, it’s a boring game because waiting is boring but now you’re here, and you, and you and we can all have fun with games like pull Pinkie from the big gun thingy! By the way space tickles. You should try it!”

Firelance leaned towards Nova. “Did you catch any of that?” he whispered.

“I think she said something about tickling the gun,” Nova responded. “Need help there Captain?”

Soban responded with a grunt as he freed one of Pinkie’s hooves and proceeded to tug, while Nova joined in. Eventually, Pinkie shot out with a loud ‘pop’, knocking the Captain back on the floor and landing nose to nose on top of him.

“Hi!”

“Pinkie. Please get off me.”

Pinkie scrambled to her hooves, scurrying off to some unknown part of the ship while giggling and snorting.

Soban remained on the floor, staring vacantly up at the ceiling. “That was interesting”

“My head hurts,” Firelance remarked.


“Good to go, Zenith? Great, let’s get this journey underway,” the Captain ordered several minutes after recovering mentally from earlier events.

Manaan adjusted its heading, increasing to its cruising speed. Eventually Soban allowed the navigational systems to take over the ship’s controls.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Now that we have time, there’s somepony I’d like you to meet, Captain.” She nodded to a large stallion behind her. Pure white, with a mane and tail containing three shades of blue, and a symbol of a star in a shield emblazoned on his chest, the very air around him rang with authority as he approached. “Captain Soban, this is my brother Shining Armour, Captain of the royal guard.”

Shining Armour shook Captain Soban’s outstretched hand. “It’s an honour to be aboard, sir.”

Soban waved his other hand dismissively. “Hey, we’re equally ranked officers. No need for the formalities. So, I heard you can make a mean shield. You mind if I ask for a demonstration?”

“Not at all.” A brief flash of light emitted from Shining Armour’s horn, creating a bubble similar to the one his sister created. As it materialised, he beamed with pride. “One of my specialities.”

“Impressive,” Soban complemented, despite no visual difference between Shining’s and Twilight’s bubbles. “There is a small cluster of asteroids in orbit around your planet from afar. The device hidden within it is our destination, but I would like to test your shield on some smaller rocks nearby, before we inspect the device. It would be interesting to see your shield in action.”

“Sounds like fun. Will that be all?”

The Captain nodded, then addressed Twilight as Shining Armour left the bridge. “Twilight, I was wondering if you could do me a favour. Can you please keep Pinkie away from me?”

“What? I wasn’t even aware she was on board.”

“Neither was I, until I pulled her out from the flak cannon! I swear I can smell my brain burning every time I try to make sense of anything she does.”

“The last time I tried to make sense of her, I literally caught fire. Trust me, it’s easier not to think about it. Besides, she might be a little over the top, but she’s still fun to hang around.”

“I mean no disrespect Twilight, but I think I’ve had enough fun for one day. It’s not that I don’t like her, but … Wow.”

“Aww she’s not that bad. You just need to get used to her. Pretty soon you’ll be walking around with an umbrella on your head whenever her tail twitches!”

Soban’s eye twitched instead. “Well at the risk of losing what little sanity I have remaining, I think I’m going to lie down for a bit. Call me if you need anything.”

“But it’s still afternoon!”

“Doesn’t matter in space,” he called out behind him, halfway towards the exit.

“Captain, wait.”

“Ugh, what?”

“You’ve got confetti in your ear.”


The Captain woke many hours later, comfortable with the fact that any issues, anomalies, or objects on intercepting vectors would have been reported immediately and directly to his quarters. The lack of such an event allowed Soban to enjoy a long nap. Throughout most of the journey, he preferred to remain within the confines of his quarters, brushing up on what little data was available on the Eye of Aarran and other Progenitor antiquities, emerging occasionally when Zenith, and her two relieving crew members were all asleep or unavailable to monitor the bridge.

Manaan was approximately two hours from its destination when Soban stepped back onto the bridge. Within minutes, Manaan would enter the sparse, outer debris field of the asteroid cluster. Shining Armour stood at attention the main window, staring out into the vastness of space, oblivious to the Captain’s entrance.

“I see you’re early, Shining. Eager to get started, are we?”

Shining Armour glanced behind and nodded. “What’s the plan?”

“To test your shield? Simple. We stop the ship just short of one of these smaller bits of debris, you put your shield up, we ram the debris, then we repeat with larger rocks until we find one that becomes a challenge to maintain the shield with. For safety, I won’t push it past that. As soon as it becomes too difficult for you, or there are obvious signs of shield failure, we stop. Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Great. Here’s a suitable first target. All stop! Do your thing, Shining.”

Shining Armour nodded, once again bringing up the spherical violet enclosure around Manaan. Another nod towards Captain Soban indicated he was ready for the next stage.

“Ahead full!”

Manaan accelerated, its engines whining as they output their maximum safe thrust, pushing the frigate closer and closer to a rock no larger than an outhouse, while Zenith monitored the distance. “Impact in three, two, one …”

The moment the shield made contact, the rock cracked and crumbled, shattering in to countless fragments and flying off in random directions. With a flick of his horn, Shining Armour repaired the minute crack that had appeared at the shield’s impact site.

The Captains continued their trials on increasingly larger asteroids over the course of twenty minutes. Each run had the same result, with the shield absorbing the impact and Shining repairing the resulting damage with his protective energy.

“Looks like your shield holds, Shining. Here’s a possible challenge. You ready?”

“Do it,” Shining Armour responded, as Manaan pointed towards a much larger asteroid, roughly the size of an apartment complex. Once again, the frigate ploughed its way through, crushing and splitting the asteroid up. Shining’s shield showed significant signs of wear, with an appearance of shattered glass along the entire forward half. Even the frigate’s inertial dampening systems struggled to compensate for the sudden change in velocity.

The Captain concluded that the shield could be maintained over a long period, but its weakness came from the inability to absorb a large amount of damage in one place at one time. However, it should allow Manaan to hold its ground over a larger swarm of movers, should there be further encounters.

Despite the limitation, Soban was only too happy to utilise such a tool, so he assured Shining Armour that he was impressed, even though Shining felt slightly disappointed in his capabilities. Soban however did not have time to give any further thought to him, as the two met up with the scientists to brief them on the upcoming mission.

“Listen up everypony! In half an hour we will arrive at our destination. Manaan will approach and stop mere metres from the hyperspace gate. Our first priority will be to find the communications relay and gain access to its systems. I don’t know if we need to explore deep within the device, or if it’s a simple matter of removing a cover to get to some electronics, but that’s our first goal. Once our primary directive is achieved, you can take whatever equipment you have brought with you to perform further analyses.”

“And how exactly will we do all that from here?” A maroon unicorn stepped forward.

“We don’t. We are going to take a little space walk. And before you start”—the Captain raised a hand to silence the worried and wide-eyed group—“we will of course be protected. Shining Armour will remain aboard to protect you from the lack of atmosphere. You will each take an oxygen tank, a headset, and anything else you may need. Shining will then create an airtight shield around each group exiting the vessel. Keep in mind the shield will stop you from touching anything. At least one unicorn should be in each group. Each unicorn should be able to move their group around and interact with objects using their telekinesis. Any questions? Alright get ready, we will arrive soon.”


“There it is! The Eye of Aarran!”

Hidden deep within the asteroid cluster, a long, massive complex floated amongst the rocks. At one end, a circular hole large enough for even mothership-class vessels to pass through, created the gateway to the other plane of space, thus giving rise to the term ‘Eye’. To either side of the Eye, walls stretched on for several kilometres vertically towards a non-existent ceiling and floor, but even more so horizontally, creating a monumental hallway for Manaan to travel along. Scattered randomly throughout the ancient artefact were several dim lights and seemingly superfluous metal protrusions. Though countless millennia in age, the device remained mostly intact, with only minor damage visible on its hull.

After a quick visual scan, Captain Soban located the array, situated near the bottom of the floor-less hallway and on the same section as the Eye. Manaan slowed and turned to approach sideways, coming to a halt at the array’s base.

“Shining, get the groups prepared. Twilight, you’re with me.”

“Yes Captain!” the siblings replied simultaneously.

The first group to emerge from Manaan consisted of only Captain Soban and Twilight. As they floated towards the intricately textured section of hull that served as the mast’s base on the gigantic array, several other groups emerged from Manaan.

“Wow, so this is what no gravity feels like!” Twilight performed a pirouette, the air resistance within the bubble bringing her back to rest as they continued approaching the device’s hull.

“Spread out, everypony,” Soban spoke into his headset. “Group two, take the base of the array with us. Groups three and four, check out the mast, but do not deviate from it. Groups five, six and seven, explore the area near the base. You have about an hour to return before your oxygen runs out. Be back in forty-five minutes just to be on the safe side.”

Most of the exploration was spent in near silence, as the seven small bubbles moved around, examining their designated areas. The first few groups were about to return, when the fifth group made a possible breakthrough.

The groups surrounded the potential access point, while all the unicorns proceeded to remove the panel. As the heavy armoured seal was removed, a bright, golden glow flooded out, originating from multiple components of unknown purpose and composition, deep within the hull. Captain Soban and Twilight lowered themselves into the recession to analyse what they could, before their forty-five minutes were up.

“Well?” Twilight asked after a moment. “Does anything here look promising?”

The Captain’s eyes darted randomly between objects. “I … No, I can’t tell. This looks like the right place, but I have no idea what I should be looking for. This thing here looks like some kind of console. Those large things along the edge are probably power and signal cables. As for those over there”—Soban pointed to a large collection of glass-like objects inserted into several slots along the walls—“I have no clue, Twilight.”

Soban looked around frantically. An alien language, walls of buttons, complex circuitry and unknown, detachable items did not make matters in any way simple for the frustrated Captain. “That’s it, everypony back on the ship. Plan B, Twilight …”


“Well look what happened before, Twilight. I figure it’s worth a shot,” the Captain said, as they emerged from Manaan for the second time. “I mean, I’m sure if you mess with it enough, it would transmit something to the network.”

“So you are going to risk what is possibly your only way home by—”

“Twilight, what other choice do I have? Yes, I might lose my only way home, but if I do nothing, it’s as good as lost anyway, so I think I’ll pick the lesser of two evi—dammit Pinkie, I can barely breathe with your hooves around my neck!”

A giggle and a snort later, the eccentric and overly excited pony loosened her grip on the unwilling host to her piggyback ride.

The bubble of three floated back into the recession containing the array’s controls. The Captain nudged Pinkie as they came to a halt. “Alright Pinkie, do your … whatever it is you do.”

“Hey, what the—OUCH PINKIE, what are you—” Twilight protested with several minor profanities as Pinkie transferred from Soban’s back, to Twilight’s, gripping her horn and manipulating objects around them as if it was a joystick.

Pinkie seemed to enjoy herself a little too much, as components flew around and buttons were pushed in indeterminable combinations, while her tongue stuck out to the side partially as she concentrated on nothing in particular. Eventually, Twilight shook her off, and the trio returned to Manaan while Pinkie spent the entire trip back cartwheeling in zero gravity.

“Alright, we did what we came here to do,” Soban remarked after the scientists finished with their overly meticulous hour-long examinations and returned safely back on board. “Whether we actually did anything? Only time will tell. I don’t know how long it will take for anything to happen, but if there’s nothing after a week or so, we’ll return and damage some of the gate’s non-essential systems.”

Manaan slowly drifted away from the array, placing enough distance between itself and the hull of the ancient device before orienting itself towards an exit out of the asteroid cluster and towards Equestria. Home.

“Uhh, Captain?” Zenith called out half an hour after their departure, her eyes glued to one of the screens at her station. “Sensors are picking up a massive power surge from the Eye.”

“The array having issues?”

“No, I mean the actual Eye. It looks like there is activity. And movement.”

“That was fast,” Soban said, turning Manaan back towards the hyperspace gate. “Who arrived?”

“Scanning. Two ships. I think they—Yes, they are communicating. One moment, translation in progress,” Zenith replied.

“Translation in—WHAT?”

“We are the keepers of Khorsabad. We are the guardians of the Sixth.”